The keycard worked on the first try. First impression was that the room was bigger than most hotel rooms he’d been in before. Directly to his left was the door to the bathroom. On his right was a long pole with his clothes already hanging. Next to that was a small fridge with a microwave on top, across the room from it was a chair, table and sofa, boxes and bags littered the floor around them. He recognized most of it from previously being in the back of his truck. A divider partially blocked the view of a king size bed, opposite the bed was a dresser with a fifty inch flat screen TV, next to it, a small desk with a laptop locked down. My dorm room was nicer than this, but hell, it is the zombie apocalypse. He opened the fridge and saw some of his beer had even been put in for him. He popped the bottle and took a deep swig, then lay down on the bed and began to feel sorry for himself in this new world. He turned on the clock radio and started to blast the only station available, then took off his scrubs and hopped in the shower to get clean. Ignoring his soaps and shampoos, he scrubbed himself with just a washcloth. Checking himself out in the mirror, he realized he needed a shave even if he wasn’t going to be in uniform for a couple days. Donning a pair of cut off jeans and a t-shirt, he then grabbed a chair and moved it to the door to prop it open. I may as well treat this like a TDY and meet my neighbors; maybe in a little bit I’ll head down to the pool. He grabbed a fresh beer and lay back in the bed again and tried to make his mind blank just listening to the tunes.
“Are you really listening to that, or do you have a masochistic streak in you?” Caleb could smell the girl; she had a faint scent of a floral shampoo. He opened his eyes and saw a small black girl wearing loose white boxer shorts and a tight GI sand colored t-shirt.
“That’s my penance for leading an evil life. If you care for a beer I’ll even turn it down to a small roar. I’m Caleb.” He was pleasantly surprised when she accepted the offer. She looked around the room, taking in all his clothing and assorted supplies by the chair and sofa. The fridge full of beer and liquor really got her attention.
“I’m Brandi, with an ‘I’. You travel first class, don’t you? I have a uniform and a few small things I managed to pick up here and there. What’s your secret?”
“I, um, missed the plane and had to drive from Peterson to here. I brought everything I had, and I stopped in a few stores on the way to make sure I was comfortable.
“Wait a second, you’re White!”From the look on her face, she appeared to have just made a great discovery.
“And you’re black; together we’re ebony and ivory.” Caleb grinned at his own wit.
“No, you fool, you’re the hero! You were the one that saved the plane I was on. After we were in the air I learned about you sacrificing yourself. Protecting the plane while we taxied. I remember hearing weapons fire and never even thought about it until we were in the air. Later word got around that you also slowed down the hordes while we were assembling at the aircraft, by leading them all around the base, keeping then away from the flight line. Don’t you play that ‘aww shucks it weren’t nothing’ crap on me.” Brandi sounded cross but had a huge smile on her face.
“Okay, I’m guilty as charged,” Caleb sounded defeated, “So what are you doing here and not at work?” Caleb asked, tipping his bottle up and draining the last of the beer. Brandi quickly pulled another couple beers from the fridge and brought them to him.
“You got too much crap on your furniture, I’m going to sit here with you on your bed. Remember the door’s open,” she plopped onto the bed next to him and pulled out the pillows so she could sit up next to him, “I’m on the schedule for tomorrow so I have downtime today. What’s your excuse?”
“I went out on a mission and my team got ambushed,” Caleb involuntarily choked back a sob, “I was released from the hospital today and put on quarters.” Blood drained from Brandi face and she sat up and looked him over carefully.
“Are you some type of Captain America? Where were you wounded? I heard from the aircrew that brought you back, about the wounded and killed. You don’t stop, do you?” She now seemed to be getting angry with him in his view.
“I did what I had to do, don’t make me sound like a hero because I’m not.” Caleb gulped down the beer too quickly. Damn, I’m going to be shit-faced before I kill the next beer. Brandi was already going towards the fridge for another beer.
She lay back down next to him and was quiet as Barry White crooned; ‘You see the trouble with me’. Caleb was feeling mellow and slowly made love to his beer. Brandi rolled towards him and rested her hand on his lap. When he didn’t say anything, she reached up under his shirt and stroked the hairs on his chest, she nuzzled him with her lips on his neck. He felt himself respond as he put his arm around her shoulders. He found himself back in the armory, the woman he’d just made love to, had turned from their joining, Caleb let out a sob and forcefully rolled out of the bed, dropping his beer on the floor.
“I’m sorry Brandi, I can’t.” She looked at him and could see the tears in his eyes, and wanted to go to him. “I think you should go.”
She appeared hurt, mad, and sad all at the same time as she stormed past him, then opened the fridge and grabbed herself two more beers before going across the hall and slamming the door to her own room.
“Son of a bitch! What type of fucking life is this I have?” He pulled the chair from the door and resisted the urge to slam it shut. Dropping back onto the bed, the radio announcer presented the next song, ‘Fooling Yourself’. Caleb just turned the radio off and shoved his face into the pillow.
There was a soft knocking at the door. Caleb forced himself to get up, wondering how long the knocking had been going on. The knocking stopped and he rushed to the door, afraid whoever it was would leave. He opened the door as the neighbor on his side of the hallway was entering their room. “Sorry, I was resting, can I help you?” The neighbor turned around and he saw it was Captain Conrad.
“I wanted to check up on you, make sure you ate something, and were doing okay.” Caleb was excited to see his mentor was in the room next to his. All the darkness he was feeling was blown away.
“I was taking a nap and was going to eat something. How about you?” Caleb looked like a lost puppy to Conrad.
“There are a couple restaurants that services are running until there’s enough civilians to take them over. It’s a little chilly out, you may want to put on some pants. I’ll meet you out front by my truck. Feel free to carry your 9 mil if you must.”
Conrad stood by the driver’s door, appreciating the sunset. The last of the sun had dipped from view and the entire sky was a brilliant orange. “I’m ready for some real food, let’s go!” Caleb shouted as he burst through the hotel doors.
Conrad slowly drove through the parking lot, then behind a fast food restaurant. “Man, I hope you’re pulling my chain!” Conrad smiled as he continued driving through the parking lots until they arrived at a huge hotel with convention center and supper club. The marquee out front advertised a Prime Rib Buffet. “Why the hell aren’t we billeted there? It looks nicer than what we have.” Caleb asked realizing he was sounding whiny, “Sorry about that, I’m hungrier than I thought.”
“Look over there.” Conrad pointed to the parking lot behind the facility. It looked like a small motor pool, complete with a pair of guards. “Army wanted it bad; they ended up setting up cots in the conference center. Their officers and senior NCOs each get a room of their own and junior NCOs are two to a room. According to Army standards, it’s outstanding conditions, they still have a pool and weight/ exercise room too.
“There’s the side door to the supper club so we don’t have to go through the hotel.” Once inside, the smell of food had Caleb openly salivating.
“Close your mouth, Caleb. Jeeze, I can’t take you anywhere.” The open dining room had most of the original seating removed and now had bench style tables. Along the wall, the original tables were still in place.
“May I see your ID’s, please?” A young civilian
asked. Both whipped out their cards for the young man. “Please follow me.” He led the pair to a small table along the wall. “Your waitress will be along soon.” He promptly returned to the door.
“Damn, now this is nice.” Caleb exclaimed. Conrad nodded to a line of soldiers holding trays heading to a serving line. “You gotta be kidding me, that’s fucked up.” A waitress appeared at that moment with a small printed menu and two glasses of ice water.
“Have you gentlemen been here before?” She asked. She looked overly tired and Caleb wondered what the inducement was to work there for the Army.
“I have,” Conrad answered, “We’ll both just have large cuts of the prime rib, baked potatoes and a nice wine, please.” Conrad set a pack of cigarettes next to her. Caleb didn’t even see her pick them up as she turned to get their meals.
“This is like some shithole overseas. Damn shame to see it happening to Americans. Hopefully this’ll get fixed soon. Most likely, she’s a refugee, and has no skills that are needed so she ended up here. There’s a rich lawyer working over at the water treatment facility, his wife is a secretary at the personnel center. Funny thing is, our waitress is most likely in a nice house or at the least, a mobile home. They also provide her and her family groceries, free medical care, and a supply of fuel for her family car. Booze and tobacco are for the military or those jobs deemed hazardous.” Jacob looked incredulous at him. “Don’t look at me like that, I’m not the one making the major decisions. For now it works, everyone is fed and has a roof over their head and is safe from the Zs.”
The waitress returned with their food. “This just happened to come out of the oven,” she said, setting down the two plates full of prime rib, each with a large baked potato full of melting butter. She also set down a small loaf of bread that was hot to the touch. “I’ll be back with your wine in just a moment.” She gave Conrad a smile before returning to the kitchen.
“My great grandfather was in World War Two. My grandfather passed on the stories he was told to me about the war and the occupation of Germany. He got laid for a pack of cigarettes or chocolate. Things are the same here until we can build a better infrastructure.” The two men ate in silence and when they were done, they signed their names as receiving their meals. Caleb noticed the receipt showed two bottles of wine, but said nothing.
Outside it was already fully dark; the air was cold and felt fresh, the perfect way to end a delicious meal. “You can drive back, I want to get some night air, and the walk will do me good.”
“You take care. I’ll check up with you when I get off work tomorrow.” Conrad didn’t look back as he drove the short distance to their hotel. Caleb felt emotions coming to the surface, helped by the wine. He thought about Brandi and how close he came to infecting her, he also thought about how hurt she appeared when she left his room. He decided he knew how he could make it up to her. He ran all out to his truck, enjoying the physical exertion. If I don’t get lost, this’ll be an interesting night.
Caleb was feeling no pain as he watched the town disappear in the rearview mirror driving west on Interstate 25. He turned on the radio to an oldie he’d never heard before, ‘Heartache Tonight’. He felt the song was speaking to him as he raced westward, he didn’t notice he was pushing almost 90. The window was down, the air rushing in and the sense of freedom was overpowering. I wonder what’d happen if I just kept going and said to hell with everything?
Caleb slowed as he approached Casper, there were more abandoned cars on the interstate and the ditches around it. He continued on until he saw the signs he was hoping for and took exit 185 south. The big superstore was on his left when he saw the signs for a huge shopping mall. He gave a curse as an infected ran in front of his truck. He proceeded more slowly until he was in the mall’s parking lot. Now the fun begins.
He dropped his civilian 9 mil between the seats and uncovered the pile of weapons in the back and chose a M17 automatic and grabbed a couple extra magazines, sticking them in his blue jean pockets. He noticed he was almost out of ammo, he’d have to fix that.
Infected were heading from all directions towards his truck, he rolled up the windows and hopped out, being sure to see where he was in the parking lot for when he came back out. He fought back the urge to laugh as the infected neared him, and then looked around confused looking for the truck’s driver. He walked by then without a second glance. The glass doors to the mall were unlocked as he entered through one of the fancier stores, a favorite of his mom’s. The smell of infected was strong with a mix of sweat and human waste. The lights were on making things a little easier for him as he found a cart and started his search.
The variety of women’s clothing left him confused on what he should get, especially since he didn’t know Brandi’s sizes. I’ll just get her some blue jeans, tops and underwear. Grabbing a couple of each size jeans he thought might be her size. He felt himself turn red when he got to the underwear, I know what I liked, but not wanting to be thought of as a perv. He went with a little of everything quickly filling the cart. All around him infected seemed to be fascinated with him as he pushed the cart down the aisles. He stopped at the makeup section and just swept a row of colors into the cart pell-mell. A few of the infected were now following him and he flashed back on how it had happened before, as they saw him as an alpha. He looked more carefully at a couple and decided they were still attractive if not a little ripe. Do I really want to do this? One in particular was making it obvious she was interested in him as she smelled at his neck and feeling the front of his pants as she softly made cooing noises. The infected woman was short and slim with copper colored skin that made him think of Brandi. Her only item of clothing was a bright yellow top with a deep v neck that hung on her almost like a dress. Her right sock was still on but her pants and shoes were gone. She gripped him through the front of his pants and cooed even softer while firmly gripping him. Caleb responded by knocking a couple blankets off the shelf and looked around before dropping down on top of them. I’m going to go to hell for this when I die, he thought.
Caleb looked at his watch, two hours had passed and he felt totally spent. He pushed the infected off, him wishing he had a wet cloth. She stirred slightly, then went back to sleep. Let’s see what else I can find for me. Outside the store in the main corridor he found a map. A sporting goods shop was just down the corridor from him. There was very little activity and Caleb wondered why before the answer hit him between the eyes. The only time they can leave the store is when the sun’s down, I’ll have to remember that next time I go shopping. The sports shop showed heavy damage, the glass doors to the parking lot and other windows had all been busted. Bodies and empty brass littered the doorway and the aisles leading to the doors. He couldn’t resist picking up a plastic box of snack bars from the middle of the floor, while he made his way to the ammunition. An entire aisle was loaded with ammunition on both sides of the aisle. The floor was black with dried blood and still sticky in areas. He found the 5.56 ammo and was surprised at the variety available. He decided to avoid the foreign ammo that was steel case, selecting instead American brands he was familiar with. He noticed a picture of a waterproof box with twenty 30 round magazines. The description stating the magazines were the Army current issue. Caleb grabbed three of the boxes. The other side of the aisle with the 9mil ammo left him initially confused for what was best to get. I know uncle Sugar uses full metal jacket because the Hague Convention bans the use of bullets that expand or flatten. I don’t think I have to worry about that. I guess hollow points it is. On the shelf before him, green plastic boxes, similar to military ammo cans, advertised they contained 350 rounds of 147 grain Jacketed Hollow Points, Caleb took all five, anxious to get back to the hotel. I keep finding guns and ammo like this, I’m going to need a bigger blanket and truck cab to hide them in, he thought.
There was definitely more activity in the main corridor when Caleb pushed his cart back to the store he came in at. He sensed their curiosity towards him, some puzzlement
from those close enough to smell his weapon and the ammo in the cart. Where he entered the store, his new friend was awake and watching him, a curious look on her face. He tried to walk by her towards the door and she walked close behind him. Realizing it’d be her death to follow him, he tore open the plastic box of snack bars, and then tore the paper off a chocolate bar before waving it in front of her face, then tossing it to the side. She looked at him, confused, then went towards it. She picked it up and looked back at him as he went out the door. She started to shriek and it was picked up by every infected close by, then all those that could hear her. Thanks honey, I’ll miss you too.
The horizon to the east showed the slightest sliver of orange with the next layer a slight blue, on its border the sky was still black. He pulled out the ammo from the cart and stashed in the back of the truck cab before lifting the cart into the bed of the truck. He used a bungee cord to keep it from moving. Satisfied, he slammed the tailgate. He felt he was being watched and assumed it was the infected in the store, then strong anger was directed at him. He looked around and realized another truck was only a hundred feet from him. They must have the schedule down to a T for when the infected go back under cover, he thought, then the shot rang out, Caleb felt sick as the bullet slammed into the side of his truck. He pulled his own weapon and was going to return fire, then almost slammed it to the ground, realizing the slim chance of hitting the shooter.
Infected World Trilogy (Books 1-3): They Only Come Out At Night Page 45
